Partners
by Merlucaforever
Summary: Meredith and Andrew talk about their break. Or is it rather a breakup? I apologize for the mistakes. I'm not a native speaker. VERSION FRANÇAISE ÉGALEMENT DISPONIBLE


_All rights reserved to Shonda Rhimes._

**Partners, by Merlucaforever**

_**NOTES: **__I've read a lot of comments from fans who think Andrew was jealous of Meredith's love for Derek. In my opinion, this wasn't the case at all. Read and you will know my opinion and then__ feel free to let me know what you think_

Standing in front of the vending machine, Meredith was talking with Amelia, who had just grabbed her second packet of chips of the day. She teased her gently about her cravings during her pregnancy when she saw Andrew passing by. He managed not to meet her eyes. Amelia noticed immediately how her whole being had reacted and that she had even held her breath.

– "Mer, you should talk to him and stop with the childishness you've started this morning. I see how much you miss him. You spent the whole weekend talking only about him and moping around instead of celebrating being able to cut again".

– "I don't know what to say; I don't know what he really expects from our relationship".

– "Mer, don't. I'm pretty sure that you know. The same thing that my brother has never given to you or me. He never considered us his equals and you and I know how we feel in this case".

Meredith sighed deeply and said:

– "Yes, I know".

– "So, go talk to him. I want to see again this light that has disappeared from your eyes this weekend and that only your sexy and fun Italian can bring back. Hurry up! I just saw him enter the on-call room down the hall. The perfect place for warm and sweet reunions!".

Meredith blushed, which amused even more Amelia who added while moving away:

– "Just keep it down! Don't be too noisy!".

– "Amelia!", Meredith said in a tone of reprimand.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Meredith was standing in front of the on-call room door and hesitated a moment to step in it. After having spent the morning pretending to be cheerful because everyone expected her to be happy to be back at work, she had to admit that she had never been so sad for months, even when she was picking up trash. The reason was that the one who had now become the light of her life had dumped her. It's true that he said it was only a break but, even so, that didn't make his absence more bearable. She missed him very badly and she didn't want this break to last. She sighed and entered the room and took care to lock the door behind her. Andrew was lying on his side and was from behind but glanced over his shoulder as soon as he heard the sound of the door look.

– "Do you have a minute?", she asked him.

– "What do you want to tell me that you haven't told me in the hallway in front of everyone, and while we were rounding this morning?" he asked her, not bothering to turn around to face her.

– "OK, how long is your little game going to last?".

– "What game?".

– "Pretending to ignore me when I'm in the same room with you as you did during the rounds".

– "You are the one who's acting as if there has never been anything between us. I thought it was wiser on my part".

Hearing the sadness in his voice, Meredith felt immediately guilty about having been an ass this morning because she wanted to show him that the situation wasn't affecting her when, deep down, all she really wanted was to smooth things over with him. Her behavior was a facade because she wanted to jump his bones in the middle of the rounds. She wondered how she had managed to restrain herself from doing so. It hadn't been easy when she listened to him as he presented the cases in his sensual and deep voice, when she looked at his lips that she wanted to kiss, when she looked at his virile hands which he kept moving while talking and that she couldn't help but imagine on her. She could also remember when their hands touched each other as he handed her a patient's file how she had started quivering and stammering.

– "Andrew I... I'm sorry. Our relationship means a lot to me", she said.

Andrew turned around and sat on the bed looking at her.

– "Mer, I asked you to take some time so that you could figure out what you want, and you hastened to call it a breakup, so, I thought that was what you wanted".

– "Breaking up? Noooo!", she said, horrified that he might have thought of it.

Noticing Andrew's puzzled face, Meredith approached him and reached out to take his hands that she squeezed and told him:

– "Andrew, I'm sorry for this morning and also for what I told you during the hearing. I thought about what you said the other night and I think you're not entirely wrong. Having been myself the intern in a relationship with a world-renowned surgeon, I know how you feel about that. You reproach me for not respecting you, but I think it's a kind of self-defense on my part. With Derek, I always had to fight to make myself heard because he treated me like a child, and I tend to forget that I don't have to do it with you Andrew. So, I'm on the defensive and I reproduce exactly what I blamed him for all the time, and which was the cause of all our quarrels".

– "Mer, do you think you need to protect yourself from me in some way?".

– "No, of course not. I know that I can rely on you in any circumstance. And I don't want you to think that everything you've done for me – your presence, your support, your love – doesn't matter. It does. I could never have gone through this painful time without you and I thank you for everything you've done – even though I still think you were stupid to take the blame for my faults", she added with a smile.

Andrew, who had been staring at her with a grave expression so far, finally smiled and approached her more closely. He put a strand of blond hair in his place and held her face in his hands before saying:

– "Mer, I love you and I think that I might do even more stupid things when it comes to protecting you. As I've already told you... I would do anything for you".

– "And I don't want you to think that you're not at my level. You're equal even though our careers are not at the same level... not yet. If I became a well-known surgeon when I didn't even match the Grey Sloan program, it's obviously impossible for the most brilliant chief resident ever to not succeed. The sexiest chief resident, I must say by the way".

Andrew let out a chuckle.

– "I'm glad to see that you understood that I wasn't jealous of what you had experienced with Derek. I can only thank him for having loved and protected you when I wasn't there to do so. All I want is a chance to build our own story that I don't want to compare with the one you've had with him".

Meredith sighed and leaned against his torso as she hugged him. She answered him:

– "I know. That's what I want too. I love you".

Meredith felt his hands caressing her hair and pulled away just a little from him to look him in the eye.

– "Andrew, I love you with all my heart. I loved Derek and I will always cherish his memory but it's you that I love. What I've experienced with him makes me realize every day how precious our own story is and the dread of losing you never leaves me. I know the limits of what I can bear without flinching… and this… I couldn't bear it".

– "Mer, you won't lose me..."

She smiled at him...

– "And I don't want to lose you, even for a short break. I want you in my life. I want us to have our own story. Are you up for it... partner?".

– "I'm all in... partner!".

They smiled and kissed passionately to seal this partnership in which they were both willing to invest themselves to make it work. No matter what the obstacles, they will always overcome them. Together.


End file.
